Random and Arbitrary thoughts, rants, opinions, and musings.
From a sometimes cynical and cranky Mom.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Reading lately...

I started the Wheel of Time series, which Zach has been bugging me to read for several years. I have read the first three -- only 8 more published, plus the twelve, which isn't published yet...but Robert Jordan died recently, before he could finish it (this is according to my kids. I have done zero independent verification.). Apparently he had finished part of the book and left notes for to finish the story...my boys and nephew were very disappointed.

I have also re-read some Anne McCaffrey -- The Powers That Be trilogy. Except that I have only read two of the three because I have misplaced the third volume...

Other than that...some marshmallow fluff type reading. Books that take almost no effort at all to read. And Frankenstein, which is not marshmallow fluff, but instead gothic and very preoccupied with emotions...Unfortunately I also misplaced that one, so have only read half of it...Kenneth Braunnaugh's version of Frankenstein, with Robert DeNiro as the monster, has a great scene where the monster punches through the chest wall of a woman and pulls out her heart and hands it to somebody...Gruesome, yes, but cool, also.

2 comments:

I love the Brannaugh version of just about anything. I've got his Hamlet on videotape (of course, I no longer have a VCR...I've got to get the DVD).

I can suggest all kinds of Sci-Fi and Fantasy...The two Sparkhawk Series by David Eddings (The Elenium and The Tamuli series). I've just finished the Eric Flint books of alternative history starting with 1632 (there are 3 or 4 books by him and other writers, and a couple of volumes of fan fiction short stories) about a W. Virginia Mining Town dropped into Germany during the 100 years war (talking about Black Plague). Of course, since I'm weird, I love the S.M. Stirling Series about Nantucket (again, dropped by alien meddling into pre-Christian World) and the "Dies the Fire" series about modern N.W. America when explosive combustion and electric power stop working. Mirrim at MLW likes these books too, so I can't be that weird.

I could put together a package...thus sending my small problem over to you, however, since you're moving to Alaska in 7 more months, it seems almost unfair.

Any Callahan's Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson is good too. Lots of fun puns.

Mark keeps suggesting I get rid of books...and I do, but I read fast. I have read 26 books in the last three months, so sometimes it is hard to find stuff to read. I don't keep everything anymore, but books I enjoy I will read again...

I will give the titles of the books you suggested to my Dad...he loves having a project and he goes to used bookstores and goodwill type stores looking for titles he's missing, so adding to his list is a good thing...

I am going to have to weed through everything again, though, books, dishes, craft stuff, furniture, toys, stuff, because we have a moving allowance of around 18,000 pounds, and we just made it moving here...

We have donated at least 5 Suburban loads of stuff to a local Lutheran thrift store.

Okay -- updating my profile because I never removed the guinea pigs from it, even though they have been elsewhere for months.

Um...new obsession (HA) the elliptical trainer in the garage. I hate the thing, but today I burned 395 calories. I know. I so wanted to burn 5 more to make it an even 400, but then I would be at 50 minutes and 19 seconds, so I would have to make that round out to an even 51 minutes, and then the mileage could be rounded up to a more even number, and then the calories would be just a few away from 450, but then I could do just a few more seconds, then another few hundredths of a mile, and so on until finally I would fall off, hit my head, end up in the hospital with another nasty concussion, and gain weight because I am bedridden. It was so much easier to just burn the 395 calories.

We moved from the Sonoran desert of southern Arizona to the almost Arctic of Anchorage. I like the winters of Anchorage better than the summers of Tucson, so far.

Still have three kids, the oldest one is a freshman at the U of Arizona (dang it, now I will have to edit this again in a few months), the other two live on Fort Richardson with me and the dogs and the husband.

Other obsessions...my camera, my IPod Touch, my sewing machine. Fabric. Definitely fabric. Dishes. It's a thing females in my family have, an obsession with dishes. Pottery, and earthenware. Silver, definitely. Not crystal and china though. I am not a big fan of the fussy and overly ornate, and both crystal and china tend to fall into those categories, to me. Plus if I have delicate dishware, then I can't have the kids wash the dishes or put it in the dishwasher.

Other than that, I weigh too much, sleep too little, am very liberal, rabidly pro-choice, find it insane this country does not have universal health care, and think the world may be a better place with Obama at the helm. Oh, yeah, and chocolate. Much much chocolate.